Mike Miley, client executive for the independent agency Gibson based in South Bend, Ind., is chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), which is holding its annual America Legislative Conference and Convention next week in Washington, D.C.

“This is an important year for us as independent agents,” Miley observes. “There are a lot of new members of Congress, and this is a great opportunity for us to get to know them and educate them about what we are all about. We want to impress upon them that we are the go-to members for information. We are the back- home person in their districts and on the streets dealing with their constituents. They really want to know how we feel about issues.”

What, in Miley's view, are some of the top legislative issues on the agenda at the conference?

Flood insurance “is a huge deal,” and there needs to be a push to get federal reauthorization, he says. Some members of Congress are pushing to privatize the program. While this concept may be fine in theory, Miley contends there is simply no market for it. If there is no flood program and disaster strikes, the government will need to step in anyway, he points out.

Agent licensing is another hot topic for independent agents. With the introduction of NARAB II (National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act), it is hoped Congress will finally adopt the needed modernization that would make licensing uniform in all states.

“It is just a nightmare for agents,” Miley says. In his own agency of 95 employees, they see firsthand how challenging it is to practice in other states.

Another key issue is passage of the Rogers-Barrow legislation, introduced on March 17, which would clarify that agent compensation is specifically not part of the medical-loss ratios (MLRs) formula as enacted in the health care overhaul law.

[The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established MLR requirements for insurance carriers. The law mandates that at least 80 percent (individual and small group) or 85 percent (large group) of premiums collected by the carrier must be spent on “health care quality improvement.” In other words, no more than 20 percent or 15 percent may go toward “non-claims costs” such as profits, advertising, administrative costs, etc.]

Some companies are already using MLR to reduce commissions, Miley says, and those agents with employee-benefit practices know how this can affect their business—and so understand very well the importance of educating their representatives about the need to have their commissions excluded from the calculations.

And outside the legislative arena, what are some of Miley's top concerns as chairman?

Two areas the association still needs to focus on are diversity and bringing more young agents into the business, Miley notes.

The membership still does not reflect the make-up of the country, he says, and there remains a need to go out and find more diverse groups of agents and bring them into the fold.

Strengthening the future also means turning to a younger generation of agents. “We have to embrace them because that is where the future is going,” says Miley. “If we continue to do what we have been doing, we will become dinosaurs.”

Finally, while some agents are finding business to be difficult in certain areas of the country—and see pursuit of a merger strategy as the only way to survive—the independent-agent system (and IIABA membership) is being rejuvenated by an increase in start-up agencies, Miley says.